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Bijal Patel
September 2008
The VLP is pleased
to introduce our
Outstanding Law
Student Volunteer
for the month of
September, Bijal
Patel. Bijal was
one of our most
frequent
volunteers in the Domestic
Relations Clinic
this summer. Bijal
was extremely
dedicated to helping
her clients; she
went the extra mile
for every single
client she saw. Her
warmth, sincerity,
intelligence, and
deep passion for
helping others made
her a truly
extraordinary student
volunteer.
Bijal
was born in Ndola, Zambia and moved to the U.S. with her parents
when
she was three
years old. She received her bachelor’s degree from Bryn
Mawr College in
Pennsylvania, where she majored in Economics and minored
in Philosophy.
After surviving her first year of law school, she finds that she is
partial to classes
taught by her two favorite professors, Professor Marc Miller
and Professor
Barak Orbach. Bijal credits Professor Miller for being the “first
professor to successfully
teach me how to analyze both sides of the argument.”
As for Professor
Orbach, Bijal holds him in high esteem because of his engaging
teaching style
which she describes as a “constant source of entertainment in
our classroom.”
Bijal believes
that her experiences in law school and the VLP have changed
the way she views
the law. “I’ve
realized that many times, the law sides with
the
party that has more money to spend on litigation.” We also asked
Bijal
what
her dream job would be and she replied, “my dream job would be to
produce house music and actually be able support myself doing it.”
If this
dream does become
a reality, then odds are that Bijal would be heading to
Thailand, her
favorite vacation destination, to celebrate. “The
people are
very friendly, the
seafood is delectable, the beaches are pristine, and I
love tropical
coconuts.”
Bijal joined the
VLP this summer because she “had
heard from past participants
that VLP was a very
well-organized community service program.” She was most
interested in our Domestic
Relations Clinic because she has faced hardships
and family turmoil in her own
life and wanted to help other people in such
situations. Bijal
believes that the most important thing she has learned from
volunteering with
the VLP is that “every client is different and in order to be
efficient, a
lawyer must quickly decipher the best way to approach the client
and his/her
problem.”
In her free time,
Bijal enjoys watching foreign films, taking dance classes and
rock climbing.
She is an experienced scuba diver and makes sure to dive
anytime she is
near the ocean. Bijal is also a glutton for punishment as she
claims to “love
spinning and aerobics classes.”
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Past Outstanding Volunteer
Student Awards |
